Operating system

ABSTRACT

Among other things, a guest operating system is refreshed from a master image of the guest operating system repeatedly in connection with use of one or more electronic devices on which the guest operating system is hosted. A guest operating system is executed on a virtual machine, and, from time to time, while the virtual machine is running, the guest operating system is reloaded from a master image of the guest operating system.

BACKGROUND

An operating system is a fundamental component of some computer systems.Among other things, an operating system manages interactions between acomputer system's hardware and software programs that operate on thecomputer system. The operating system can also provide a user interfacethat a user (e.g., a human operator) uses to interact with the computersystem and software applications. An operating system executed by andinteracting with a particular computer system can be said to be “runningon” or “running within” the particular computer system. The computersystem that an operating system runs on need not be a physical computersystem. An operating system can also run on a software simulation of acomputer system, sometimes called a virtual machine. Sometimes, a firstoperating system running on physical computer hardware executes avirtual machine, and a second operating system runs on the virtualmachine. The first type of operating system can be called a “hostoperating system” and the second type of operating system is an exampleof a “guest operating system.”

An operating system is prone to failures. A failure may be a temporaryfailure. For example, a software program running on the operating systemmay execute an instruction in a manner unexpected by the operatingsystem, causing an error condition in the operating system. This maymanifest itself as an “operating system crash” and require rebooting ofthe operating system, or in more severe situations the operating systemto be erased from memory, entered back into memory, and re-executed.

A failure may be an ongoing failure. For example, a software program maymodify the operating system causing the operating system to behavedifferently than as designed. The modification could be unintentional,e.g., a software program causes a change in the operating system thathas unintended consequences. The modification may be intentional, e.g.,a malicious software program such as a virus causes a harmfulmodification to the operating system.

An operating system may be changed (sometimes often) over a period oftime by updates and upgrades that are provided by the manufacturer orother source and that modify the code of the operating system. Theseupdates and upgrades are often made in response to changes in hardwareof the computer system that the operating system may run on, or to makethe operating system more resistant to malicious software that targetsthe operation of the operating system, or to provide additionalfeatures, or to achieve combinations of those objectives. Many of thefeatures provided by an operating system to application software and tothe user make use of hardware facilities of the computer system on whichthe operating system runs.

SUMMARY

The use of computer operating systems that we describe here mayencompass one or more of the following (and other) aspects, features,and implementations, and combinations of them.

In general, in one aspect, a computer system includes one or morecomputer devices including a first computer device, wherein the firstcomputer device comprises a first network communication device, a hostoperating system executing on the first computer device, wherein thehost operating system is configured to directly operate the networkcommunication device, a virtualized network communication device,whereby use of the virtualized network communication device results indirect operation of the first network communication device by the hostoperating system, a guest operating system, wherein the guest operatingsystem is configured to use the virtualized network communication devicefor network communication activities, a first nonvolatile data storagedevice storing a master image of the guest operating system, and asecond nonvolatile data storage device which stores user informationgenerated by the guest operating system, wherein, in response to aninstruction generated by the host operating system, the computer systemis configured to automatically refresh the guest operating system fromthe master image stored in the first nonvolatile data storage device andthe user information stored in the second nonvolatile data storagedevice.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thesystem includes a virtual machine which includes the virtualized networkcommunication device and the virtualized data storage device, whereinthe guest operating system executes within the virtual machine. Thevirtual machine executes within the host operating system. The systemincludes a first display device configured to display images, a firstinput device for manual or verbal instructions from a user, avirtualized display device, whereby use of the virtualized displaydevice results in operation of the first display device by the hostoperating system, and a virtualized input device, whereby input receivedby the host operating system via the first input device is provided toan operating system using the virtualized input device, wherein theguest operating system is configured to use the virtualized displaydevice to display a user interface and is configured to use thevirtualized input device to provide input for operating the userinterface. The host operating system does not provide a user interfacefor use via the first display device. The first computer device furtherincludes a first data storage device, the host operating system isconfigured to directly operate the first data storage unit, the systemfurther includes a virtualized data storage device, whereby use of thevirtualized data storage device results in direct operation of the firstdata storage device by the host operating system, and the guestoperating system is configured to use the virtualized data storagedevice for data storage activities. The system includes a thirdnonvolatile data storage device which stores data for installation of afirst application program on the guest operating system, wherein, inresponse to the instruction from the host operating system, the computersystem is configured to install the first application program on theguest operating system from the third nonvolatile data storage device.The system includes a fourth nonvolatile data storage device whichstores data for installation of a second application program on theguest operating system, wherein the host operating system is configuredto identify and record a problem associated with the second application,and wherein, in response to the instruction from the host operatingsystem, the computer system is configured to install the secondapplication program on the guest operating system from the fourthnonvolatile data storage device, unless the host operating system hasrecorded a problem associated with the second application. The hostoperating system is configured to generate the instruction in responseto identifying a problem associated with the second application. Thesystem is configured to monitor operation of the guest operating system,and the host operating system is configured to generate the instructionin response to the monitoring of the guest operating system. The hostoperating system is configured to generate the instruction in responseto a detected misoperation or failure of the guest operating system. Thehost operating system is configured to generate the instruction inresponse to a detection of unauthorized access of the guest operatingsystem. The host operating system in configured to periodically generatethe instruction. The master image is unchanged from refreshing torefreshing of the guest operating system. The host operating system isconfigured to required encrypted communication via the first networkcommunication device in response to use of the virtualized networkcommunication device by the guest operating system. The host operatingsystem is configured to perform monitoring and control of networkcommunications requested by the guest operating system. The hostoperating system is configured to perform automatic maintenance ofdevice drivers without requiring user interaction and without requiringtermination of the guest operating system.

In general, in another aspect, a system includes a computer systemincluding a network communication device, a host operating systemexecuting on the computer system, the host operating system beingconfigured to directly operate the network communication device, avirtualized network communication device, wherein use of the virtualizednetwork communication device results in direct operation of the networkcommunication device by the host operating system, a guest operatingsystem executing on the computer system, the guest operating systembeing configured to use the virtualized network communication device fornetwork communication activities, a first nonvolatile data storagedevice storing a master image of the guest operating system, and asecond nonvolatile data storage device storing user informationgenerated by the guest operating system, wherein, in response to aninstruction generated by the host operating system, the computer systemis configured to automatically refresh the guest operating system fromthe master image stored in the first nonvolatile data storage device andthe user information stored in the second nonvolatile data storagedevice.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thesystem includes a virtual machine which includes the virtualized networkcommunication device, the guest operating system executing within thevirtual machine. The virtual machine executes within the host operatingsystem. The system includes a display device configured to displayimages, an input device configured to receive instructions from a user,a virtualized display device, wherein use of the virtualized displaydevice results in operation of the display device by the host operatingsystem, and a virtualized input device, wherein input received by thehost operating system via the input device is provided to an operatingsystem using the virtualized input device, the guest operating systembeing configured to use the virtualized display device to display a userinterface and configured to use the virtualized input device to provideinput for operating the user interface. The host operating system doesnot provide a user interface at the display device. The system includesa virtualized data storage device, wherein use of the virtualized datastorage device results in direct operation of the second nonvolatiledata storage device by the host operating system, and the guestoperating system being configured to use the virtualized data storagedevice for data storage activities. The response to an instruction fromthe host operating system, the computer system is configured to installan application program on the guest operating system. The host operatingsystem is configured to identify and record a problem associated withthe application program, and in response to the instruction from thehost operating system, the computer system is configured to install theapplication program on the guest operating system unless the hostoperating system has recorded a problem associated with the applicationprogram. The host operating system is configured to generate theinstruction in response to identifying a problem associated with theapplication program. The computer system is configured to monitoroperation of the guest operating system, and the host operating systemis configured to generate the instruction in connection with themonitoring of the guest operating system. The host operating system isconfigured to generate the instruction in response to a detectedcondition of the guest operating system. The host operating system isconfigured to generate the instruction in response to a detection ofunauthorized access of the guest operating system. The host operatingsystem in configured to periodically generate the instruction. Themaster image is unchanged from refreshing to refreshing of the guestoperating system. The host operating system is configured to encryptcommunication made using the network communication device in response touse of the virtualized network communication device by the guestoperating system. The host operating system is configured to performmonitoring and control of network communications requested by the guestoperating system. The host operating system is configured to performautomatic maintenance of device drivers without requiring userinteraction and without requiring termination of the guest operatingsystem. The host operating includes a kernel abstraction layer whichisolates the virtual machine from the first computer device.

In general, in another aspect, a method of configuring one or morecomputer devices including a first computer device, the first computerdevice comprising a first network communication device, includesexecuting a host operating system on the first computer device, whereinthe host operating system is configured to directly operate the networkcommunication device, executing a guest operating system on one of theone or more computer devices, wherein the guest operating system isconfigured to use a virtualized network communication device for networkcommunication activities, whereby use of the virtualized networkcommunication device results in direct operation of the first networkcommunication device by the host operating system, and refreshing theguest operating system, in response to an instruction generated by thehost operating system, from a master image of the guest operating systemstored in a first nonvolatile data storage device and user informationstored in a second nonvolatile data storage device.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Themethod includes executing a virtual machine which provides thevirtualized network communication device, wherein the executing of theguest operating system is within the virtual machine. The executing ofthe virtual machine is within the host operating system. The methodincludes providing a kernel abstraction layer in the host operatingsystem to isolate the virtual machine from the first computer device.The host operating stores one or more passwords for use with userapplications executing on the guest operating system.

In general, in another aspect, a method includes refreshing a guestoperating system from a master image of the guest operating systemrepeatedly in connection with use of one or more electronic devices onwhich the guest operating system is hosted.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Aportion of the guest operating system is refreshed from the master imageand a portion of the guest operating system is not refreshed from themaster image. The refreshing occurs in response to an event associatedwith use of the one or more electronic devices. The refreshing occurs atprearranged times or at regular intervals. The refreshing occurs inresponse to a characteristic of an operation of the guest operatingsystem. The characteristic includes incorrect operation of the guestoperating system. The refreshing occurs upon failure of the guestoperating system. The refreshing occurs upon a moving of the masterimage of the guest operating system from one to another of theelectronic devices. The guest operating system is hosted on a virtualmachine exposed by a host operating system on at least one of theelectronic devices. The guest operating system is refreshed from amaster image on a portable storage device. The method also includesrefreshing a host operating system running on one or more of theelectronic devices. The electronic devices include one or more of adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a mobile computing device, a mobilephone, or a tablet computer. The master image is unchanged fromrefreshing to refreshing.

In general, in another aspect, a method includes executing a guestoperating system on a virtual machine, from time to time, while thevirtual machine is running, reloading the guest operating system from amaster image of the guest operating system.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thevirtual machine is hosted by a host operating system. At least someservices available directly to the host operating system are notdirectly accessible to the guest operating system. Some services thatare available directly to the host operating system are not directlyaccessible to the guest operating system, and at least some servicesavailable directly to the host operating system are directly accessibleto the guest operating system. The host operating system reduces accessby the guest operating system to services of an electronic device onwhich the host operating system is running, based on a condition of theelectronic device. The services of the electronic device include anetwork interface. The host operating system hides from a user, userinterface elements that would otherwise be exposed to the user by thehost operating system. Reloading the guest operating system from amaster image includes installing a user application on the guestoperating system from a secondary master image. Detecting a condition ofthe user application and, based on the condition, deleting the secondarymaster image. The condition includes a failure condition or a securitycondition. The method includes detecting a condition of the guestoperating system and, based on the condition, refreshing the guestoperating system. The condition includes a failure condition or asecurity condition. The method includes disabling a user interface ofthe virtual machine. The guest operating system is reloaded into randomaccess memory. The master image is stored in firmware. The methodincludes executing the guest operating system after reloading it fromthe master image. The method includes terminating the guest operatingsystem before reloading it from the master image. From time to timeincludes on a regular schedule.

In general, in another aspect, an apparatus includes a storage devicecontaining a host operating system and a guest operating system, thehost operating system including features to interface with servicesavailable on an electronic device, the guest operating system includingfeatures that are exposed to a user to enable a user to make use of theservices available on the computer system through the host operatingsystem but without enabling the user to access the services available onthe computer system directly through the host operating system.

Implementations may also include one or more of the following features.Hardware of the computer system is not accessible to the guest operatingsystem. The apparatus includes a secondary re-writeable storage deviceaccessible by the guest operating system. The secondary re-writeablestorage device stores secondary data storage images including softwareexecutable to install an application program executable under the guestoperating system. The apparatus includes a data storage image containingthe host operating system and the guest operating system. The storagedevice includes a read-only storage device to copy the data storageimage to random access memory of the electronic device prior toexecution of the host operating system. The storage device includes aread-only storage device.

In general, in another aspect, a storage device contains a hostoperating system that causes execution under the host operating systemof any one of two or more guest operating systems chosen independentlyof the services available on an electronic device on which the hostoperating system is executed, the host operating system having featuresto interface with services available on the electronic device.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Theguest operating system is configured to operate on hardware other thanhardware of the electronic device. The hardware of the electronic deviceis not accessible to the guest operating system. The storage deviceincludes a read-only storage device and includes a secondaryre-writeable storage device accessible to the guest operating system.

In general, in another aspect, a method includes a user accessingfeatures made available by a host operating system running on anelectronic device, the user accessing the features indirectly through aguest operating system running on a virtual machine exposed by the hostoperating system, the guest operating system being provided from amaster image stored in a data storage device inaccessible to the guestoperating system.

In general, in another aspect, a method includes a guest operatingsystem enabling a user to interact with an electronic device, the guestoperating system effecting interactions of the user by invoking featuresof a virtual machine that is exposed by a host operating system runningon the electronic device, the guest operating system being provided froma master image.

In general, in another aspect, an integrated circuit package comprisesembedded components capable of running a general purpose operatingsystem, and a read-only storage device containing a host operatingsystem and a guest operating system, the host operating systemcomprising features to interface with services made available by theembedded components, the guest operating system comprising features thatare exposed to a user to enable a user to make use of the services madeavailable by the embedded components through the host operating systembut without enabling the user to access the services made available bythe embedded components directly through the host operating system.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Theembedded components are not accessible to the guest operating system.The guest operating system is configured to access a secondaryre-writeable storage device external to the integrated circuit package.The read-only storage device comprises a data storage image containingthe host operating system and the guest operating system. At least someof the embedded components are configured to copy the data storage imageto random access memory prior to execution of the host operating system.

These and other aspects, features, and implementations, and combinationsof them, may be expressed as apparatus, methods, methods of doingbusiness, means or steps for performing functions, components, systems,program products, and in other ways.

Advantages may include one or more of the following. A bifurcatedoperating system is effective in managing hardware and software resourcein a secure environment and is robust against external attacks. Otherbenefits, such as robust and transparent mechanisms for ensuringdelivery and application of hardware driver updates, are also obtainedvia the described techniques.

Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from thedescription and the claims.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is block diagram illustrating a computer processing system thatincorporates both a host operating system and a guest operating systemto provide a Secure Operating System.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating delivery and use of the host andguest operating systems via external memory devices.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are flow diagrams illustrating the use of applicationprogram software in connection with the guest operating system.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a “system on a chip” embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an alternate embodiment utilizing a Secure Operating System ona Chip, such as illustrated in FIG. 5.

In some examples of what we describe here, a secure computer system thatwould not require user-initiated system software maintenance (patching,defragmentation, virus removal, etc.) could be created of commonlyavailable components (open source software, common user operating systemsuch as Windows or Macintosh, personal computer, common hardwareperipherals). This computer system could be transferred to singlecomputer processing circuit (System on Chip or SOC) and used withvarious user output/display devices. Such devices could be miniaturizedusing miniaturization technology (such as nano technology), combined andembedded for specialized uses.

Some instances of the techniques discussed below combine host and guestoperating systems, in some examples via virtualization software, toachieve greater functionality, security, lower maintenance/productioncosts. In many cases, the resultant total functionality cannot beaccomplished with either the host or guest operating systems separately.In some implementations, such functionalities would be unique andspecifically useful for, not excluding others, military, police,intelligence, bank firm, financial security, exchange, medical,transportation, geological type firms as will be described by use casesbelow.

A guest operating system can be run within a virtual machine running ona host operating system which in turns runs on hardware of a physicalcomputer system. If the guest operating system serves as the medium ofinteraction with a user of the computer system, then the hardware of thecomputer system and the host operating system can be partly or entirelyisolated from the activities of the user.

If a guest operating system is exposed to a condition that could causean ongoing failure, the guest operating system can be refreshed, forexample, by a host operating system by reloading and re-executing all orpart of the operating system. If all or part of the guest operatingsystem is reloaded (e.g., reloaded into memory from which the guestoperating system is executed) from an unchanging master image, then anymodification causing an ongoing failure can be eliminated and thereforeneed not be permanent.

In some examples, if an operating system runs as a guest within avirtual machine, the guest operating system may interact only withsimulated hardware maintained and exposed by the virtual machine to theguest operating system and not interact directly with physical hardwareof the computer system. In addition, the software making up a guestoperating system that runs on a virtual machine can be stored in aread-only form, which resists modification that could cause ongoingfailures. If any modification to the guest operating system occurs as itis running, then the modification made to the guest operating system canbe disposed of by reloading the operating system from the read-onlystorage image.

Also, if the guest operating system running within a virtual machineinteracts with simulated hardware of the virtual machine and notphysical hardware of the computer system, the guest operating system canbe used on a computer system other than a computer system for which theguest operating system was designed, because the virtual machine on eachof the computer systems can provide the simulated hardware interfaceexpected by the guest operating system regardless of differences in thephysical hardware of the computer systems. Each computer system needonly support a host operating system and a virtual machine that providesthe expected virtual hardware interface and on which the guest operatingsystem runs. Thus, the guest operating system could run on a greatervariety of computer hardware than originally designed.

Features of the host operating system may include, for example:

1) hardware bootstrap and hardware management (CPU) capabilities;

2) capability to host peripheral device drivers (network, storage,video, etc.);

3) optional ability to update drivers via secure pull method;

4) ability to restrict user access to itself;

5) ability to function invisible to output devices (however, a lowerlevel network pack scanning could detect presence of the host operatingsystem unless guest hardware is fully abstracted);

6) ability to block interrupt key combination to prevent user frominterrupting from a guest operating system;

7) optional ability to host local firewall and IP route tables, andperform SSL tunneling to provide a software security tunnel;

8) ability to schedule work-load;

9) ability to perform monitoring resources and processes;

10) ability to run virtualization software;

11) ability to run utility applications;

12) ability to restart the guest operating system;

13) ability to provide and/or share storage with the guest operatingsystem;

14) optional ability to run host operating system in memory;

15) ability to add/remove routines to a guest operating system start-upsequence;

16) host an image for the guest operating system;

17) ability to isolate memory/process space from the guest operatingsystem;

18) TCP/DHCP client;

19) support for NTP client/server;

20) ability to disable not-required services; and

21) plug-n-play hardware detection.

Features of the guest operating system may include, for example:

1) provide user interface services;

2) maintain and record user run-time state;

3) reconstruct a desired user state;

4) secure web browser/e-mail/word processor;

5) ability to install application and configuration by way of a singlecommand without reboot of the guest operating system;

6) services that need not be modified by the user should be restrictedfrom modification;

7) ability to run basic virus prevention software and local firewallsoftware;

8) plug-n-play hardware detection (although this may be applied tovirtualized devices, rather than directly for actual hardware);

9) network protocol support;

10) ability to mount remote network storage;

11) relatively small memory requirement for regular minimal load(ensuring that guest OS memory+guest OS virtual memory+host OSmemory<physical memory available to computer system);

11) ability to obfuscate system information so it would not be visibleto user and spy software;

12) segregated system configuration definitions so essential user statecan be preserved after refresh of guest operating system from image; and

13) ability to disable shut-down for overall system and specificservices.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example computer system 100. Thecomputer system 100 includes a processor 110, a memory 120, a storagedevice 130, and input/output devices 140. The components can beinterconnected, for example, using a system bus 150. The processor 110is capable of processing instructions for execution within the computersystem 100. In some implementations, the processor 110 is asingle-threaded processor. In some implementations, the processor 110 isa multi-threaded processor. In some implementations, the processor 110is a quantum computer. The processor 110 is capable of processinginstructions stored in the memory 120 or instructions that can be movedinto memory 120 from the storage device 130. In some implementations,instructions may be executed by the processor 110 directly from astorage device 130. The memory 120 stores information within thecomputer system 100. In some implementations, the memory 120 is acomputer-readable medium. In some implementations, the memory 120 is avolatile memory unit. In some implementations, the memory 120 is anonvolatile memory unit. In some implementations, the memory can be acombination of any two or more kinds of memory. In some examples, thememory 120 includes discrete units that are each accessible by anaddress. For example, the memory 120 may be divided into units such asbytes or words each of which can be read from and written to by sendinga command to read or write that includes the address corresponding tothe unit or units.

The storage device 130 is capable of providing mass storage for thesystem 100. In some implementations, the storage device 130 is acomputer-readable medium. In various different implementations, thestorage device 130 can include, for example, a hard disk device, anoptical disk device, a solid-date drive, a flash drive, magnetic tape, a“USB keychain” drive, or some other storage device, or any combinationof any two or more of those. In some implementations, the computersystem 100 has multiple storage devices 130, for example, a hard diskdevice and a flash drive.

The input/output devices 140 provide input/output operations for thecomputer system 100. In some implementations, the input/output devices140 can include driver devices configured to receive input data and sendoutput data to other input/output peripherals 160, e.g., keyboard,printer and display devices. In some examples, the input/outputperipherals 160 are external devices (e.g., separate physical devicesfrom the computer system 100), and in some examples, the input/outputperipherals 160 are integrated with the computer system 100 (e.g.,electronics packages that are part of the computer system 100). In someimplementations, mobile computing devices, mobile communication devices,and other devices can be used. For example, the computer system 100could be a mobile device such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, apersonal digital assistant, a mobile phone such as a smart phone, oranother kind of mobile device. In some implementations, the input/outputdevices 140 can include one or a combination of any two or more of anetwork communication device 142, e.g., an Ethernet card, a serialcommunication device, e.g., an RS-232 port, and/or a wireless interfacedevice, e.g., an 802.11 card, a 3G wireless modem, or a 4G wirelessmodem. A network communication device 142 allows the computer system 100to communicate, for example, transmit and receive data over a network144. For example, the network 144 could be a local area network (LAN), aworld-wide network such as the Internet, or another kind of network fordata communication.

The processor 110 is capable of executing programs, which arecollections of instructions that cause the processor 110 to performactions. For example, the processor 110 may execute the instructions ofan operating system, such as host operating system 170. We use the termoperating system to refer broadly to any kind, size, or configuration ofoperating system including, for example, a program or a collection ofprograms that interact with resources of a computer system, for example,the processor 110, memory 120, storage device 130, and input/outputdevices 140, manage the use of those resources by other programs, andprovide features that are useful to the other programs and to the userof the computer system. When a program's use of the resources of thecomputer system 100 is managed by an operating system, the program canbe said to be “running on” the operating system. In some examples, theoperating system 170 begins to be executed when the computer system 100is activated (for example, is booted up) and remains active while thecomputer system 100 remains active. An operating system can take any ofseveral forms and any kind of operating system could be used in thetechniques described here.

In some implementations, one of the programs that runs on the hostoperating system 170 can be a virtual machine 172. In some examples, avirtual machine 172 is a software simulation of a computer system. Amongother things, a virtual machine 172 simulates virtual hardwarecorresponding to hardware of a physical computer system. For example,the virtual machine 172 may simulate a processor, for example, like theprocessor 110 of the computer system 100. The virtual machine 172 mayalso simulate other types of resources of a computer system, forexample, memory and input devices, similar to the memory 120 andinput/output devices 140 of the computer system 100. The virtual machine172 can make simulated (e.g., virtualized) hardware 174 available toanother operating system, a guest operating system 176. The operatingsystem 176 interacts with the simulated hardware 174 in the same mannerin which the operating system 176 might interact with hardware of aphysical system, e.g., the computer system 100, were the guest operatingsystem 176 operating as the sole operating system on the computer system100.

The operating system 176 also can provide features that are useful toprograms that run on the operating system 176, and also to the user. Inthis way, the operating system 176 can use services of the computersystem 100 but does not access those services directly. Instead, thevirtual machine 172 serves as an intermediary between the operatingsystem 176 and the services. For example, when the operating system 176accesses simulated hardware of the virtual machine, the operating system176 is directly accessing services of the simulated hardware directly,but only using the underlying physical hardware indirectly. As oneexample of indirect access, the operating system 176 may access ahardware address of simulated hardware, which is translated into adifferent hardware address of physical hardware by the virtual machine172. (In some implementations, techniques other than address translationare used.) In contrast, in direct access, the operating system 176 woulddirectly operate a physical hardware device by accessing a hardwareaddress assigned to the physical hardware. The virtual machine 172 mayimpose limitations on the use of the services of the computer system100, for example, limitations that would not be present if the operatingsystem 176 were to have direct access to the services of the computersystem 100. These limitations can be designed to screen or protect theservices and hardware from unintended or deliberate misuse by theprograms that run on the virtual machine 172.

In some implementations, we refer to the operating system 170 running onthe computer system 100 as a “host” operating system, and we refer tothe operating system 176 running on the virtual machine 172 as a “guest”operating system. A guest operating system 176 running on a virtualmachine 172 can be described as “hosted” by the virtual machine. Ingeneral, when a guest operating system 176 runs on a virtual machine172, the guest operating system 176 does not need to be modified orconfigured to accommodate the host operating system 170 running thevirtual machine 172; it only needs to be capable of running on thevirtual machine. In this way, the guest operating system 176 can be saidto be “unaware” of the host operating system 170.

The virtual machine 172 simulates hardware by establishing acorrespondence between the simulated hardware 174 of the virtual machine172 and physical hardware of the computer system 100 in which thevirtual machine 172 runs. (In some implementations, a simulated hardwaredevice is completely emulated and does not correspond to a physicalhardware device.)

For example, the virtual machine may simulate a processor by translatinginstructions executed within the guest operating system 176 for asimulated processor 178 into instructions executable by the processor110 of the computer system 100. Put another way, the guest operatingsystem 176 will be executed as though it were issuing instructions to asimulated processor 178 of the simulated hardware 174, but the virtualmachine arranges for the instructions to be actually carried out by thephysical processor 110 of the computer system 100. The guest operatingsystem 176 may be designed to function by running on the simulatedprocessor 178, and the virtual machine 172 allows and enables the guestoperating system 176 to carry out operations using the physicalprocessor 110. At the same time, the virtual machine 172 can shield thehost operating system 170 and the physical hardware of the computersystem from intrusion or damage and the guest operating system 176 onwhich the virtual machine 172 runs can be refreshed any time thatbecomes desirable or necessary.

In some examples, the virtual machine 172 allocates a portion 122 of thememory 120 for the guest operating system 176. The guest operatingsystem 176 uses the portion 122 of memory allocated as though theallocated memory were all of and the only memory available to it on thesimulated computer system represented by the virtual machine 172. Forexample, the virtual machine 172 may maintain simulated memory addressesused by the guest operating system 176 and translate the simulatedmemory addresses to actual memory addresses of the corresponding portion122 of memory 120 allocated to the virtual machine 172. Another portion124 of the memory 120 not allocated to the virtual machine 172 is notaccessible by the guest operating system 176. Therefore, any program,including the guest operating system 176, that runs on the virtualmachine 172 is not able to corrupt anything stored in the memory that isnot allocated to the virtual machine 172.

The executable code making up the host operating system 170 and theguest operating system 176 can be stored on the storage device 130 andloaded into memory 120 and can be executed from memory during operationof the computer system 100. In some examples, the executable code thatresides in the storage device 130 or in memory 120 can be derived fromdisk images 132, 134 of the operating systems. A disk image is, forexample, a representation of a logical storage device that can bemounted and unmounted on the computer system 100 as if the disk imagewere a physical device such as the storage device 130. One example typeof a disk image is called an ISO image. In some examples, a disk imagecan be rewriteable, and in some examples, a disk image can be read only.In some implementations, a disk image contains a program that installsother programs. In some implementations, a disk image can be acombination of two or more of those.

For example, the host operating system disk image 132 may contain aprogram that installs the executable code of the host operating system170, for example, places the executable code of the host operatingsystem 170 on the storage device 130 of the computer system 100. In someexamples, the host operating system disk image 132 can be used to placeexecutable code of the host operating system 170 directly in the memory120 of the computer system 100 such that none of the executable codeneed be stored or accessed on the storage device 130. In someimplementations, the disk image 132 contains a version of the hostoperating system 170 that is ready to be executed on the computer system100, once loaded into memory 120, such that an installation program isnot necessary.

In some implementations, storage device 130 may be provided by one ormore discrete storage devices, and may also include network-based datastorage, in which data is stored in a computer system separate fromcomputer system 100. In some implementations, an image may be one ormore files residing in one or more filesystems, or it may be an archivefile, such as the well-known ZIP and TAR formats.

For example, we can refer to “installing” an operating system toinclude, for example, the act of copying a disk image into memory, forexample copying the disk image 132 into memory 120. In some examples,the host operating system 170 can be installed on the computer system100 once and remain on the storage device 130 for multiple successiveuses, from memory 120, by the computer system 100, for example, multiplepower-ups of the computer system 100. In some examples, the hostoperating system 170 is installed only for a single use of the computersystem 100, and the host operating system 170 is re-installed from thehost operating system disk image 132 each time the computer system 100is powered on. In some implementations, the host operating system 170can be re-installed from the host operating system disk image 132 to thestorage device 130 and then into the memory 120. In someimplementations, the host operating system disk image 132 can be copieddirectly into the memory 120.

We use the term “single use” to include, for example, a singleinstallation of an operating system in response to a single instance ofthe computer system 100 powering on. Each time the computer system ispowered on, or restarted (sometimes called rebooted), a single use ofthe computer system and a single installation of the operating systemoccurs. In some examples, the host operating system disk image 132contains executable code of software applications that run on the hostoperating system 170, for example, executable code of the virtualmachine 172. Because the same disk image 132 can be used multiple times,a disk image 132 that is reusable and does not change betweeninstallations or changes rarely is sometimes called a master image. Insome examples, a master image is portable among different devices. Forexample, a master image used on one computer system 100 may be copiedand used with another computer system. The same master image can be usedon many different computer systems provided that the operating systemcan be run on each computer system.

A guest operating system disk image 134 may contain a program thatinstalls the executable code of the guest operating system 176 foreither a single use or multiple uses of the computer system 100. Theguest operating system 176 can be installed from the disk image 134 onthe virtual machine 172 such that the guest operating system 176 runs onthe virtual machine 172. In some examples, the guest operating systemdisk image 134 can be used to place executable code of the guestoperating system 176 in memory 120 of the computer system 100 such thatnone of the executable code need be stored or accessed on the storagedevice 130. For example, the executable code of the guest operatingsystem 176 can be placed in a portion 122 of memory 120 designated bythe virtual machine 172 as accessible to the guest operating system 176.

In some implementations, the disk image 134 contains a version of theguest operating system 176 that is ready to be executed on the computersystem 100 such that an installation program is not necessary. In someexamples, we can refer to “installing” the guest operating system 176 asthe simple act of copying the disk image 134 into memory 120 without therunning of an installation program. In some examples, the guestoperating system 176 may be installed only for a single use of thecomputer system 100, such that the guest operating system 176 isre-installed from the guest operating system disk image 134 each timethe computer system 100 is powered on. For example, the host operatingsystem 170 can be configured to re-install the guest operating system176 when the computer system 100 is powered on. In some implementations,the guest operating system 176 can be re-installed from the guestoperating system disk image 134 to the storage device 130 and then intothe memory 120. In some implementations, the guest operating system diskimage 134 can be copied directly into the memory 120.

In some examples, the guest operating system 176 may also be installedmultiple times during a single use of the computer system 100. Forexample, the guest operating system 176 may be re-installed every timethe virtual machine 172 is terminated and re-activated, which may occurmultiple times during a single use of the computer system 100. Forexample, the virtual machine 172 may be terminated and re-activated on aregular or irregular schedule, or the virtual machine 172 may beterminated and re-activated in response to a condition detected by thehost operating system 170, or the virtual machine 172 may be terminatedand re-activated for another reason.

In some implementations, multiple instances of the virtual machine 172are running at the same time. An instance of a program is a copy of theprogram in execution (e.g., a copy of executable code and datastructures of the program). For example, one instance of the virtualmachine 172 can run one instance of the guest operating system 176 and asecond instance of the virtual machine 172 can run a second instance ofthe guest operating system 176 or of a different guest operating system.When one instance of the virtual machine 172 is terminated, a secondinstance of the virtual machine 172 can be used to present a secondinstance of the guest operating system 176 to the user 165. If thesecond instance of the virtual machine 172 is already active and readyfor use then the amount of time needed to switch between instances ofthe guest operating system 176 is reduced (e.g., reduced relative to ascenario in which the guest operating system 176 is re-installed afteran earlier instance of the guest operating system 176 is terminated).

In some examples, programs other than the operating systems may be madeavailable on disk images. For example, the storage device 130 may storeapplication disk images 136 (e.g., a second master image, a third masterimage, and so on) each of which stores a program that installs aninstance of a software application. Here, we use the term softwareapplication to include, for example, a program other than an operatingsystem, for example, a program that may provide functions and featuresto a user 165 of the computer system 100 (e.g., a user 165 who operatesthe computer system 100 using the input/output peripherals 160).

Examples of a software application program include a web browser, anemail program, a word processor, or another kind of program, or anycombination of two or more of those. In some examples, the applicationdisk images 136 (sometimes called program packages) may containinstallers 137 for software applications 138 that run on the guestoperating system 176. For example, when the guest operating system 176is installed from a disk image 134, software applications can beinstalled from respective disk images 136 to run on the guest operatingsystem 176. A software application installed on the guest operatingsystem 176, for example, installed on storage that is accessible to theguest operating system 176, can run on the guest operating system 176.Although the guest operating system 176 runs on a virtual machine 172, aprogram 180 such as a software application runs in the same manner (inparticular as far as its user is concerned) as if the guest operatingsystem 176 were running on a physical system such as the computer system100.

The guest operating system 176 may be re-installed (a process sometimescalled refreshing) many times during a single use of the computer system100. For example, the host operating system 170 may initiate are-installation of the guest operating system 176. In someimplementations, the host operating system 170 can terminate theexecution of the guest operating system 176, initiate there-installation of the guest operating system 176 from the guestoperating system disk image 134, and reload the guest operating system176 for execution. This process of termination, re-installation, andreloading the guest operating system 176 is sometimes called refreshingthe guest operating system 176.

Refreshing the guest operating system 176 may have one of severalpurposes or any combination of two or more of such purposes. In someexamples, during the operation of the guest operating system 176, theexecutable code making up the guest operating system 176 may be alteredin a harmful way. We sometimes refer to this kind of harmfulmodification as affecting the integrity of the operating system. Forexample, the guest operating system 176 may have been altered by aprogram 180 in a way that causes the guest operating system 176 tooperate in an unexpected manner. The unexpected manner may be harmful,for example, causing the deletion of data stored by the storage device130, or exposing data stored by the storage device 130 to entities notauthorized to access the data (e.g., entities who may access thecomputer system 100 using the network 144).

The program that does the harmful altering could be a softwareapplication used by a user 165, for example, or the program could be amalicious program such as a virus or Trojan horse. Here, we refer to aprogram or instruction as “malicious” if, for example, the program orinstruction causes a harmful action such as the deletion of data, damageto the computer system 100, or exposure of data to unauthorizedentities. If the guest operating system 176 has been altered, thealterations are disposed of when the guest operating system 176 isrefreshed. The host operating system 170 may generate an instruction torefresh the guest operating system 176 to mitigate any harm caused byunexpected modification to the guest operating system 176. For example,the host operating system 170 may refresh the guest operating system 176on regular intervals, such as once an hour, once a day, or anotherinterval, or at a random interval, or at some combination of two or moreof those. In some implementations, the host operating system 170 maymonitor the guest operating system 176 for modifications or failures(e.g., unexpected behavior of the guest operating system 176) andrefresh the guest operating system 176 when a modification or failure isdetected.

In some implementations, only a portion of the guest operating system176 is refreshed and a portion of the guest operating system 176 is notrefreshed. For example, the host operating system 170 or another systemmay identify a portion of the guest operating system 176 that has beenmaliciously altered or otherwise designated to be refreshed. The portionof the guest operating system 176 could be a component of the guestoperating system 176 such as the operating system kernel, a devicedriver, a utility software application, or another component. In someexamples, different portions of the guest operating system 176 arescheduled to be refreshed at different times.

In some implementations, any or all of the disk images 132, 134, 136 canbe copied to memory 120 before any programs contained in the disk imagesare executed. For example, the host operating system 170 may copy theguest operating system disk image 134 to memory 120 (for example, copyfrom the storage device 130). If the host operating system 170 accessesthe guest operating system disk image 134 multiple times during a singleuse of the computer system 100, for example, to re-install the guestoperating system 176, the guest operating system disk image 134 will beavailable in memory 120. In some examples, the speed of access isenhanced when the guest operating system disk image 134 is available inmemory 120.

Because the guest operating system 176 operates within a virtual machine172, a program 180 that runs on the guest operating system 176 generallycannot cause a modification to the host operating system 170, becausethe virtual machine or the host operating system itself, or both ofthem, screen the host operating system from such modification. Thus, arefresh of the guest operating system 176 will dispose of any failure orother malicious result caused by a program 180 running on the guestoperating system 176 and return the computer system to its normal,intended operating state.

In some implementations, the disk images 132, 134, 135, and 136 areaccessible to the host operating system 170 and are not accessible tothe guest operating system 176. In this way, if any maliciousinstructions cause modification of data accessible to the guestoperating system 176, none of the disk images 132, 134, 136 will bemodified. For example, if the executable code making up the guestoperating system 176 is modified then the host operating system 170 canre-install the guest operating system 176 from the guest operatingsystem disk image 134 which remains unmodified.

The host operating system 170 and the disk images 132, 134, 136 could bemodified if a program runs on the host operating system 170. Forexample, a malicious program such as a virus could cause a modificationto the host operating system 170 or the disk images 132, 134, 136, oranother program such as a program 180 used by the user 165 of thecomputer system could cause a modification that may be harmful to theintegrity of the host operating system 170 or the disk images 132, 134,136. In some implementations, the host operating system 170 isconfigured to reduce or minimize any opportunity for any alteration tothe host operating system 170, for example, an alteration caused byanother program.

In some examples, a program 180 such as a software application containedon one of the disk images 136 may cause a modification that may beharmful to the integrity of the guest operating system 176. The hostoperating system 170 may detect the modification. For example, the hostoperating system 176 may regularly compare the state of the guestoperating system 176 to a record of its state at a previous time anddetect a change. When the guest operating system 176 is refreshed andsoftware applications are re-installed from the disk images 136, thehost operating system 170 can opt not to re-install the softwareapplication that caused the modification. The host operating system 170can also opt to delete the disk image 136 containing the softwareapplication to avoid future harmful modifications. The host operatingsystem 170 may disable or delete software applications in this way whendetecting any malicious activity performed by a software application.The user can be warned that a software application was a source ofmalicious activity, for example, in a warning message in a userinterface.

In some implementations, the host operating system 170 can be configuredto be inaccessible to a user 165 of the computer system 100. Typically,the host operating system 170 may include functionality that enables itto present a user interface 162 on the computer system 100 (e.g., on oneof the input/output peripherals 160 such as a computer monitor,touchscreen, or other device). When that functionality is in use, theuser interface 162 allows a user 165 to interact with the host operatingsystem 170, for example, to install and run software applications on thehost operating system 170, or make changes to the configuration of thehost operating system 170. To reduce the chances that those activitieswill compromise the host operating system, the user interface 162 of thehost operating system 170 can be disabled so that the user 165 does nothave access to the host operating system 170. For example, the hostoperating system 170 can be modified or configured to not engage in theprocess of providing a user interface or displaying a user interface 162when the host operating system 170 runs on a computer system 100.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 is configured to run onthe computer system 100 and activate (e.g., load and execute) thevirtual machine 172 absent input from the user 165. When the virtualmachine 172 is activated, the host operating system 170 activates theguest operating system 176. For example, the host operating system 170can load the guest operating system 176 into memory 120 and run it onthe virtual machine 172. In some examples, the host operating system 170installs the guest operating system 176 from a disk image 134. When theguest operating system 176 has been activated, the guest operatingsystem 176 engages in the process of providing a user interface anddisplays a user interface 164 on the computer system 100.

The user 165 of the computer system 100 can then use the user interface164 of the guest operating system 176 to interact with the computersystem 100, for example, run software applications on the computersystem 100 (which run on the guest operating system 176). Because thehost operating system 170 is not the software that is in charge ofproviding the user interface and does not display a user interface 162,the user 165 need not interact with the host operating system 170.Further the user 165 may not and need not be aware that the hostoperating system 170 is running on the computer system 100 or that thehost operating system 170 is not the entity that is exposing the userinterface to the user.

Because the user 165 does not interact with the host operating system170, the host operating system 170 can control services (e.g.,functionality or features or resources of the hardware) of the computersystem 100 independently of any actions of the user 165. For example,the host operating system 170 can enable or disable services of thecomputer system 100 independently of control of the user 165.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 can enable a networkcommunication device 142 if the computer system 100 is active in acertain geographical or network-accessible area, for example, an officebuilding of a company that owns the computer system 100. If the hostoperating system 170 detects that the location of the computer system100 has changed (for example, using a GPS or other location service ofthe computer system 100), the host operating system 170 can disable thenetwork communication device 142. In this way, the computer system 100is only usable for network services in a particular geographical area.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 can reduce access of theguest operating system 176 to services of the computer system 100, butthose services need not be completely disabled. For example, if the hostoperating system detects that the location of the computer system 100has changed, the host operating system 170 may change the configurationof the network communication device 142 so that the networkcommunication device 142 cannot be used to send or receive certain kindsof data, but can be used to send or receive other kinds of data. Forexample, the host operating system 170 may change the configuration ofthe network communication device 142 so that data designated assensitive or secret can only be sent or received in certain geographicareas.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 can enable or disable aportion of the functionality of the network communication device 142.For example, the host operating system 170 can disable functionality ofthe network communication device 142 for security reasons. The hostoperating system 170 may be configured to disallow the use of thenetwork communication device 142 for bridging between two networks. Inthis way, the host operating system 170 would not allow the networkcommunication device 142 to communicate traffic from one network incommunication with the network communication device 142 to anothernetwork in communication with the network communication device 142. Ifone network is a local area network (e.g., an internal network of anorganization such as a company or government agency), and the othernetwork is a wide area network (e.g., the Internet), traffic on thelocal area network could not be transmitted to the wide area network.Because a user of the computer system 100 only interacts with the guestoperating system 176, the user of the computer system 100 would not beable to circumvent the configuration of the host operating system 170 orthe network communication device 142. The network communication device142 could be configured in other ways for the purpose of enhancedsecurity. For example, the network communication device 142 could beconfigured to operate as a one-way firewall, such that network trafficfrom devices on one network could be received by the networkcommunication device 142, but not transmitted to other devices on thatnetwork. In some examples, some or all network traffic communicated bythe network communication device 142 could be encrypted by the hostoperating system 170 or the network communication device 142 or both.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 can ensure that aportion of the functionality of the network communication device 142remains enabled. For example, the network communication device 142 mayallow a network service to interact with the host operating system 170,the guest operating system 176, or both. The network service could be aremote management service that allows an entity to access the computersystem 100. For example, an administrator of the computer system 100could access the functionality of the guest operating system 176 fromanother computer system in communication with the network 144. The hostoperating system 170 could be configured to allow the administratoraccess to the guest operating system 176 using the remote managementservice. Because a user 165 of the computer system 100 does not haveaccess to the host operating system 170, the remote management servicecannot be disabled by the user 165. In some implementations, the hostoperating system 170 may expose services of the computer system 100 tothe guest operating system 176. The services could include hardware thatcan be addressed (read from, written to, or both) by the guest operatingsystem 176 rather than addressed by the virtual machine 172 in responseto the guest operating system 176 addressing virtual hardware. Forexample, the host operating system 170 may enable a program 180 runningon the guest operating systems to access services of the computer system100. The services can be chosen to minimize risk that the program 180could use the exposed services in a manner that is malicious orotherwise causes a failure of the host operating system 170. Forexample, the host operating system 170 may expose a service to the guestoperating system 176 such as a service that provides data to a program180 but does not accept data from the program 180 or only accepts datain a limited manner. For example, the host operating system 170 mayexpose a service such as a video camera in which a program 180 onlyreceives video data from the video camera. In some examples, the hostoperating system 170 may expose a service such as a network monitoringservice that allows a program 180 to receive data about network trafficsent and received by the computer system 100. In some examples, the hostoperating system 170 may expose a portion of a service to the guestoperating system 176 and deny the guest operating system 176 access toother portions of the service. For example, the host operating system170 may expose a portion of a storage device to the guest operatingsystem 176 such that a program 180 running on the guest operating system176 can write to one portion of the storage device and not write toanother portion of the storage device.

In some implementations, the host operating system 170 may expose aservice (e.g., to a program 180 running on the guest operating system176) in a way that the program can use a device driver of the hostoperating system 170. For example, if the program 180 is avideoconference program, then the program 180 may use a video cameradevice driver made available by the host operating system 170. Usingthis technique, the program 180 could function on a guest operatingsystem 176 that does not support a device driver for the service.Changes to the guest operating system 176 need not affect thefunctionality of the program 180, for example, changes to the guestoperating system 176 that would otherwise affect the ability of theprogram 180 to interact with a device driver if the device driver wererunning on the guest operating system 176. A user could upgrade theguest operating system 176 or use a different guest operating system 176and the service would still be available to the program 180 because thedevice driver and host operating system 170 remain unchanged.

In some implementations, either or both of the host operating system 170and the guest operating system 176 are operating systems that can run onmultiple configurations of computer hardware, sometimes called generalpurpose operating systems. Because two operating systems are used, bothof the operating systems can be chosen based on separate sets ofrequirements for features and capabilities.

In some examples, the host operating system 170 may be chosen based onsecurity and reliability requirements. For example, the host operatingsystem 170 could be a Unix-based operating system or a Unix-likeoperating system such as a Linux operating system or BSD operatingsystem.

In some examples, the guest operating system 176 may be chosen based onuser interface requirements or software application availability. Forexample, the guest operating system 176 could be a Windows operatingsystem or a Mac OS operating system or a *nix operating system (e.g.,Unix, Linux, BSD, etc.). In examples in which the user interface 162 ofthe host operating system 170 is not used, the user interfacecapabilities of the host operating system 170 need not be considered inthe choices or configurations of the host operating system.

Because the guest operating system 176 runs on the virtual machine 172and the hardware (e.g., the processor 110, memory 120, and otherhardware) of the computer system 100 is managed by the host operatingsystem 170, the guest operating system 176 can be chosen independentlyof the services (such as the hardware) that may or may not be availableon any given computer system 100. Any of several guest operating systemscould be chosen, for example, depending on preferences of a user.

A large number and variety of different computer systems can host agiven guest operating system and related applications as long as thehost operating system can be run on all of the different computersystems, and as long as a virtual machine can be hosted by the hostoperating system on each computer system on which the guest operatingsystem can run. This makes the guest operating system and associatedapplication programs effectively portable from one computer system toanother.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which host operating system170 and guest operating system 176 execute on a single computer device100, in other examples computer device 100 may be replaced with aplurality of computer devices. For example, host operating system 170may execute on a first computer device, and guest operating system mayexecute on a different second computer device. In such an example, useof virtualized hardware 174 by guest operating system 176 on the secondcomputer device would result in direct operation of hardware included inthe first computer device, such as a network communication device, byhost operating system 170.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer system 200 and storage devices210, 220. The computer system 200 could be an example of the computersystem 100 shown in FIG. 1, and the storage devices 210, 220 could be anexample of the storage device 130 shown in FIG. 1. In someimplementations, either or both of the storage devices 210, 220 areexternal storage devices attachable and detachable to and from thecomputer system 100, also sometimes called removable storage devices.For example, the storage devices 210, 220 could attach to a deviceinterface of the computer system such as a USB (universal serial bus)port or another interface for connecting removable storage devices. Insome examples, one or both of the storage devices 210, 220 do notphysically attach to the computer system 200. For example, one or bothof the storage devices 210, 220 may be accessible by a network such asthe network 144 shown in FIG. 1. In some implementations, the firststorage device 210 contains a host operating system disk image 212 and aguest operating system disk image 214. The disk images 212, 214 could beexamples of the disk images 132, 134 shown in FIG. 1. The host operatingsystem disk image 212 can be used to install a host operating system 202onto the computer system 200 (or any computer system on which the hostoperating system can run). The guest operating system disk image 214 canbe used to install a guest operating system 204 onto the computer system200 (or on any computer system on which a host operating system providesa virtual machine on which the guest operating system is capable ofrunning) For example, the guest operating system 204 can run on avirtual machine (e.g., the virtual machine 172 shown in FIG. 1) whichruns on the host operating system 202. In some implementations, the hostoperating system disk image and the guest operating disk image can bestored on different devices.

In some implementations, the first storage device 210 is configured toautomatically install the host operating system 202 on the computersystem 200. In some implementations, the computer system 100 isconfigured to identify the disk image 212 and install the host operatingsystem 202 from the first storage device 210. In some examples, the hostoperating system 202 can be installed into memory 120 or a storagedevice 130 (FIG. 1) of the computer system. In some implementations, thefirst storage device 210 contains the executable code of the hostoperating system 202 in a form that can be used to boot the computersystem 200 from the first storage device 210. In this way, the hostoperating system 202 need not be installed on the computer system 200.In some implementations, the host operating system disk image 212 isused to install the host operating system 202 onto the first storagedevice 210, which can then be used to boot the computer system 200.

A guest operating system 204 can be installed from the guest operatingsystem disk image 214. For example, the guest operating system 204 canbe installed to run on a virtual machine running on the host operatingsystem 202. In some examples, the host operating system 202 causes theguest operating system 204 to be installed, for example, sends a commandor triggers a process to install the guest operating system 204.

In some examples of use, a user 206 of the computer system 200 canconnect the first storage device 210 to the computer system 200, forexample, by plugging a flash memory 210 into a USB port. The hostoperating system 202 is installed and begins running on the computersystem 200 and executes a virtual machine. The guest operating system204 is installed and then can run on the virtual machine and present auser interface with which the user 206 can interact. From theperspective of the user 206, the computer system 200 appears to berunning only the guest operating system 204. For example, if the guestoperating system 204 were Microsoft Windows, and the host operatingsystem 202 were Linux, the user would have the perception that thecomputer system was running on Microsoft Windows, and could be unawarethat the host operating system 202 was Linux.

The user 206 can operate the computer system 200 as if only the guestoperating system 204 were installed. For example, the user 206 can usehardware resources of the computer system 200, such as input/outputperipherals 208, by interacting with the guest operating system 204.Because the host operating system 202 manages interactions with hardwareof the computer system 200, the guest operating system 204 need not beconfigured to manage interactions directly with the computer system 200or the input/output peripherals 208. A single guest operating system 204can be used with multiple types of computer systems and multiple typesof input/output peripherals and other hardware as long as the computersystems, input/output peripherals, or other hardware are supported bythe host operating system 202 and the host operating system 202 runs avirtual machine on which the guest operating system 204 can run. Theuser 206 could use the first storage device 210 to boot other computersystems besides the computer system 200 shown in FIG. 2. In this sense,the guest operating system 204 becomes easily portable among multiplemachines and multiple categories of machines. A guest operating system204 could run on a different type of machine than it was designed to runon. For example, a guest operating system 204 may have been designed torun on a personal computer such as a desktop or laptop computer, butusing the techniques described here, the guest operating system 204 canrun on a mobile device such as a smart phone.

In some implementations, the second storage device 220 contains guestapplication disk images 222 or user data 224 or both. For example, theguest application disk images 222 can be used to install softwareapplications onto the guest operating system 204. The user data 224 cancontain data used by software applications, for example, data that theuser 206 creates and manipulates. In some implementations, the firststorage device 210 is a read-only storage device. For example, datastored on the first storage device 210, such as the operating systemdisk images 212, 214, may be not alterable (e.g., for security orstability reasons).

Because the user 206 may wish to have access to software applicationsnot included with the guest operating system 204, or because the user206 may wish to create and alter data while using the computer system200, the user can use the second storage device 220 as a re-writablestorage device alongside a read-only first storage device 210. The user206 is free to place software applications and user data on the secondstorage device 220 even though the first storage device 210 does notaccept any modifications to its data. The second storage device 220 canthen be used to move not only the operating system, but also the user'sdata and applications from one computer system to another, includingcomputer systems of different kinds.

In some implementations, the computer system 200 accesses the secondstorage device 220 using a network. For example, the second storagedevice 220 may be provided by a “cloud computing” service that providesa fixed or variable amount of storage to a user of the computer system200. “Cloud computing” refers to techniques in which services areprovided using a network such as the Internet. The second storage device220 can be an allocation of storage by the cloud computing servicerather than a physical device. In some arrangements, the computer system200 may have read-only storage that is accessible using a non-networkcommunication technique such as USB and have rewriteable storageaccessible using a network communication technique such as a cloudcomputing service. In these arrangements, the computer system 200 neednot have any rewriteable storage accessible using a non-networkcommunication technique, such that all of the rewriteable storageavailable to the computer system 200 is “cloud computing” storage. Forexample, a user need not carry or have access to a physical re-writeablestorage device that can be lost or forgotten, potentially providingsafety, simplicity, and flexibility to a user.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example process 300 for configuring adata storage device (e.g., the storage device 130 shown in FIG. 1 or thestorage device 210 shown in FIG. 2) to start up (or “boot”) a computersystem (e.g., the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 or the computersystem 200 shown in FIG. 2).

In operation 302, a host operating system disk image is created. Forexample, the disk image could be the host operating system disk image132 shown in FIG. 1 or the host operating system disk image 212 shown inFIG. 2.

In operation 304, an operating system (e.g., a host operating systemsuch as the host operating system 170 shown in FIG. 1 or the hostoperating system 202 shown in FIG. 2) is installed into the hostoperating system disk image. In some examples, an installation programfor the operating system could be executed to generate a configuredversion of the operating system, sometimes called an installation of theoperating system. For example, the operating system could be configuredto operate on a particular configuration of computer hardware, such as aparticular configuration of a computer system and input/outputperipherals. In some implementations, the operating system is configurednot to display user interface elements to a user, for example, because auser will interact with a guest operating system and not the operatingsystem serving as the host operating system.

In operation 306, a virtual machine is installed onto the host operatingsystem disk image. The virtual machine can be configured to run on ahost operating system, for example, run on the operating systeminstalled on the host operating system disk image. In someimplementations, the virtual machine is configured to run whenever thehost operating system is active. In some implementations, multipleinstances of the virtual machine are configured to run when the hostoperating system is active. In some implementations, the virtual machineis configured not to display user interface elements (e.g, buttons ortoolbars that would otherwise allow a user to disable the guestoperating system or the virtual machine). In some implementations, thevirtual machine is configured not to accept input specific to thevirtual machine. For example, the virtual machine may allow certainkeystrokes (or other input made by a user on an input/output peripheral)to activate or deactivate functionality of the virtual machine. Thekeystrokes or other input combinations specific to the virtual machinecan be disabled when the virtual machine is installed.

In operation 308, a guest operating system disk image is created. Forexample, the disk image could be the guest operating system disk image134 shown in FIG. 1 or the guest operating system disk image 214 shownin FIG. 2.

In operation 310, an operating system (e.g., a guest operating systemsuch as the guest operating system 176 shown in FIG. 1 or the guestoperating system 204 shown in FIG. 2) is installed into the guestoperating system disk image. For example, an installation program forthe operating system could be executed to generate an installation ofthe operating system. Because this operating system will be used as aguest operating system, the operating system can be configured to run onthe virtual machine installed on the host operating system. In someimplementations, the configuration of the operating system to be used asthe guest operating system does not include any modifications to theoperating system, for example, modifications to the executable code ofthe operating system.

In operation 312, the host operating system is configured to providefile system access to the guest operating system. In general, one of thefunctions of an operating system is to provide access by applicationprograms to files organized in a file system in storage. Access to filesstored in a file system can enable the program that has access to causecorruption of the files. To reduce the chance of this, in some examples,the guest operating system uses a different file system to read andwrite data than does the host operating system.

The host operating system can be configured to provide access to filesof the file system held in the data storage (e.g., the storage device130 shown in FIG. 1 or the storage device 220 shown in FIG. 2) in aformat useable to the guest operating system. In some examples, theguest operating system uses a network-based file system protocol such asSMB (server message block). The host operating system can be configuredto provide access to the guest operating system using the network-basedfile system protocol. In some implementations, the host operating systemcan be configured to enable a secondary storage device (e.g., the secondstorage device 220 shown in FIG. 2) to be accessible using thenetwork-based file system protocol.

In operation 314, the host operating system is configured to refresh theguest operating system. In some implementations, the host operatingsystem can be configured to refresh the guest operating system on aregular schedule or on regular intervals. For example, the hostoperating system can be configured to use a scheduling program thatperiodically terminates the guest operating system, re-installs theguest operating system (for example, from a disk image), and starts anew instance of the guest operating system. The host operating systemmay do this once a day, once an hour, once a week, or at any otherinterval of time. In some implementations, the guest operating systemcan refresh at intervals that are not regular or not according to aregular schedule.

In some implementations, the guest operating system can be refreshedbased on one or more internal or external triggering events or acombination of them. In some examples, the host operating system isconfigured to refresh the guest operating system when the host operatingsystem detects a condition present in the guest operating system. Insome examples, the condition could be a security condition, for example,the detection of a virus or other malicious program in the guestoperating system. In some examples, the condition could be a failurecondition, for example, an error in the guest operating system, aninfinite loop in the guest operating system, a memory overflow in theoperating system, a condition that causes the guest operating system tocease operation (sometimes called a crash or freeze), or another kind offailure condition.

In operation 316, the host operating system is configured to installsoftware applications on the guest operating system. In someimplementations, the software applications are stored in disk images,for example, the disk image 136 shown in FIG. 1 or the disk image 222shown in FIG. 2. For example, the disk images can be stored on asecondary storage device such as the second storage device 220 shown inFIG. 2. In some implementations, software applications are re-installedon the guest operating system each time the guest operating system isrefreshed.

In operation 318, the host operating system disk image and the guestoperating system disk image are copied to a storage device. In someexamples, the storage device could be a removable storage device such asthe storage device 210 shown in FIG. 2. In some implementations, thestorage device is configured to boot a computer system when the storagedevice is attached to a computer system. In some examples, the storagedevice can be configured to copy the host operating system disk image tomemory or data storage of a computer system when the computer systempowers on. In some examples, the storage device can be configured toallow the execution of the host operating system from the host operatingdisk image while the disk image remains on the storage device. Forexample the storage device can be configured to indicate to a computersystem that it is a bootable storage device, and the computer system canexecute the host operating system from the storage device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example process 400 for generating asoftware application disk image (e.g., the disk image 136 shown in FIG.1 or the disk image 222 shown in FIG. 2). The disk image can be placedon a data storage device (e.g., the storage device 220 shown in FIG. 2)to be installed on a guest operating system (e.g., the guest operatingsystem 176 shown in FIG. 1 or the guest operating system 204 shown inFIG. 2).

In operation 402, a guest operating system is activated. The guestoperating system may run on a virtual machine running on a hostoperating system. In some examples, the guest operating system isrefreshed and then activated so that the guest operating system isrunning in a known state (e.g., absent any changes made by users orsoftware applications).

In operation 404, an installation package recorder is activated. Aninstallation package recorder tracks changes made to an operating systemas a software application is installed. For example, the installationpackage recorder keeps track of what data is added or altered in theoperating system during the installation. The installation packagerecorder generates an installation package that can repeat theinstallation of the software application at a later time. For example,the installation package recorder can generate an installation packagethat contains software that, when executed, installs the softwareapplication. In some examples, the installation package is a structuredstorage file. For example, the installation package could be an MSIfile.

In operation 406, the software application is installed. The softwareapplication could be an example of the program 180 shown in FIG. 1. Thesoftware application can be installed using an installation program thatplaces data and executable code of the software application in storageaccessible to the guest operating system and configures the software torun on the guest operating system. In some examples, the softwareapplication has user settings, for example, user interface settings,that can be configured. In some examples, the software application hassettings for locations at which to store data. For example, the softwareapplication can be configured to store data on a particular storagedevice.

In operation 408, the installation package recorder is deactivated andthe installation package is generated. In some examples, theinstallation package can be placed in a disk image, for example, one ofthe guest application images 136 shown in FIG. 1 or one of the guestapplication images 222 shown in FIG. 2.

In operation 410, the installation package is copied to a storagedevice. For example, the storage device can be the storage device 220shown in FIG. 2. If the storage device is a rewritable storage devicethen the storage device may contain other installation packages andother installation packages can be placed on the storage device at alater time.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a microchip 500 containing a computer system andoperating systems. For example, the microchip 500 could be an example ofthe computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1. The microchip 500 has embeddedcomponents corresponding to components of other kinds of computersystems. The microchip 500 can include a central processing unit 502,for example, a central processing unit capable of running a generalpurpose operating system.

The microchip 500 can include memory 504, for example, random accessmemory that can be addressed by a general purpose operating system. Forexample, the memory 504 could be an example of the memory 120 shown inFIG. 1.

The microchip 500 can include an operating system image 506. Theoperating system image 506 can contain an operating system that can runon the microchip 500. For example, the operating system image 506 couldbe one or more disk images that contain a host operating system 170, avirtual machine 172, and a guest operating system 176, as shown in FIG.1.

The microchip 500 can include input/output ports 508, 510. For example,the input/output ports 508, 510 can be used to connect input/outputperipherals, e.g., input/output peripherals 160 as shown in FIG. 1. Themicrochip 500 can include input/output firmware 512. For example, theinput/output firmware 512 can manage interactions with input/outputperipherals (e.g., connected to the input/output ports 508, 510)independently of an operating system. The microchip 500 can include adisplay adapter 514. For example, the display adapter 514 can connect toa display system such as a computer monitor or television screen orprojector or another kind of display system to display user interfaceelements to a user of the microchip 500.

The microchip 500 can include a network interface 516. The networkinterface 516 can be an example of the network communication device 142shown in FIG. 1. The network interface 516 can connect to a network suchas a local area network (LAN) or the Internet or both or another kind ofnetwork. For example, the network could be the network 144 shown in FIG.1. In some examples, the network interface 516 is a wired interface thatcommunicates to a network using physically connected wire. In someexamples, the network interface 516 is a wireless interface thatcommunicates to a network using wireless signals, for example, usingradio frequency (RF) signals. The microchip 500 can include an expansionbus 518. For example, the expansion bus 518 may connect to externalperipherals, for example, peripherals that operate on a communicationstandard such as universal serial bus (USB). The microchip 500 caninclude a memory card interface 520. The memory card interface 520 canconnect to memory cards which can be used as storage, for example, usedto store data generated or manipulated by an operating system running onthe microchip 500. Because the operating system running on the microchipcan be stored on a read-only medium, the microchip does not needhardware such as a large-capacity rewriteable hard disk drive.

The microchip 500 shown in FIG. 5 can provide the same functionality toa user as a general-purpose computer. A general purpose computer mayhave discrete components, such as a motherboard, hard disk drive,removable media drive, and expansion ports, and may be contained in ahousing having a desktop or laptop form factor. The microchip 500 can behoused in a smaller package. For example, the microchip 500 andassociated components can be housed in a single integrated circuitpackage (e.g., a pin grid array package, a land grid array package, athin small outline package, or another kind of integrated circuitpackage).

As shown in FIG. 6, the microchip 500 could be housed in a hand-helddevice 600. For example, the hand-held device 600 could take the form ofa “keychain”-sized device. In some examples, the hand-held device 600could also have a second function. For example, the hand-held device 600could be a mobile telephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) whichhas functionality other than the functionality described here, includingfunctionality that may not be related to the functionality of themicrochip 500. For example, the hand-held device 600 could be capable ofmaking telephone calls. In some examples, the hand-held device 600 couldtake the form of a digital watch or other personal electronics device.

In some examples, the hand-held device 600 could connect to displaysystems and input/output peripherals of multiple types. For example, thesame hand-held device 600 could connect to a computer monitor, keyboard,and mouse 602, a laptop computer monitor, keyboard, and trackpad 604, apersonal digital assistant or smartphone 606, a television 608, a tabletcomputer 610, or another kind of system having display and input/outputperipherals. In some examples, the hand-held device 600 could connect toan existing computer system (e.g., a laptop computer) and interface withthe display and input/output peripherals of the existing computersystem. Components of the existing computer system, such as themicroprocessor and hard drive of the existing computer system, need notbe used, although, in some implementations, they might be. In someexamples, a variety of display systems or input/output peripherals couldbe used with the hand-held device 600. For example, the hand-held device600 could be connected to a sensor bar 624 which allows a user 620 ofthe hand-held device 600 to use a finger cot 622 to indicate cursormovement or selection on a user interface with his finger, rather thanuse a pointing device such as a mouse or trackpad. For example, thesensor bar 624 can track the movement of the finger cot 622. In someexamples, the hand-held device 600 could use a display device to displaya keyboard image 626. The user 620 can use the finger cot 622 to makegestures corresponding to the press of keys on the keyboard image 626.In this way, input/output peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse neednot be used (although they could be, of course) with the hand-helddevice 600, even if the hand-held device 600 runs a general purposeoperating system designed to operate with input/output peripherals suchas a keyboard and mouse. Because a wide range of peripherals such asdisplays and input/output peripherals can be used with the hand-helddevice 600, cheaper peripherals may be chosen than peripherals designedfor use for a particular computer system.

In some examples, a device like the microchip 500 shown in FIG. 5 couldbe integrated with the motherboard of a personal computer. For example,the operating system image 506 could be placed in a read-only storagemedium and the read-only storage medium could be permanently integratedwith the motherboard. In some examples, a host operating system may runon a central processing unit 502 of the microchip 500 and a guestoperating system may run on a central processing unit of themotherboard. A virtual machine may be optional in examples in which theguest operating system runs on a different central processing unit thanthe host operating system.

The techniques described here could be used in a variety of scenarios.In one example scenario, the microchip 500 shown in FIG. 5 could beintegrated with a hand-held device such as a pocket pager. The pocketpager could be an example of the hand-held device 600 shown in FIG. 6. Atechnician, such as an information technology support technician, who isat home receives a message on the pager requesting the technician'sassistance for a technical support matter. The technician can plug hispager into a home television and begin using the television to interfacewith the operating system running on the pager.

In another example scenario, a user has a hand-held device like thehand-held device 600 shown in FIG. 6. She works on her workstationnetwork during the work day by connecting the hand-held device to acomputer monitor and input devices. At the end of the day, she can leavethe office and take a train home. When she gets to the train, sheconnects the hand-held device to her hand-held phone and uses itsinterface features to turn the phone into a full-fledged general-purposecomputer. As another example, the hand-held phone itself may incorporatethe microchip 500 shown in FIG. 500 and so the hand-held phone mayconnect to a computer monitor and input devices during the work day andalso be usable as a portable computer.

In another example scenario, a computer system 100 as shown in FIG. 1has integrated videoconferencing services that function independent ofthe guest operating system 176 chosen to run on the computer system 100.The videoconferencing services can run on the host operating system 170and can be available to a user of the computer system 100 regardless ofwhich guest operating system 176 is running and used by the user.

In another example scenario, a computer system 100 as shown in FIG. 1has integrated screen-sharing services that function independent of theguest operating system 176 chosen to run on the computer system 100. Thescreen-sharing services can run on the host operating system 170 andallow another user on the network 144 to observe a current view of theguest operating system 176. The other user could be a support technicianwho is called to remedy a problem with the guest operating system 176.

In another example scenario, a computer system 100 as shown in FIG. 1could be used in an academic environment. The host operating system 170can be configured to filter traffic coming through the networkcommunication device 142. For example, inappropriate or non-academicmaterial can be filtered or blocked. A student only has access to theguest operating system 176 and so cannot circumvent the networkconfiguration.

In another example scenario, a computer system 100 as shown in FIG. 1could be used in a security-sensitive environment such as a governmentagency. The host operating system 170 can be configured to filtertraffic coming through the network communication device 142. Forexample, data identified as sensitive or secret can be prevented fromtransmission by the network communication device 142. In some examples,the host operating system 170 may be configured to only receive dataover a network 144 and not transmit data over a network. A user oremployee only has access to the guest operating system 176 and so cannotcircumvent the network configuration.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 maybe a new addition to a local area network, for example, the local areanetwork of an organization such as a corporation. The computer system100 can be configured to run the host operating system 170, virtualmachine 172, and guest operating system 176 to bolster the security ofthe computer system 100.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 maybe configured to transmit and receive network traffic using a proxyserver available on the network 144. A proxy server is an entity thatreceives and retransmits network traffic, for example, to obfuscate thesource of network traffic, or to encrypt network traffic. The hostoperating system 170 can be configured to transmit all network trafficto a chosen proxy server. A user of the computer system 100 only hasaccess to the guest operating system 176 and so cannot circumvent thenetwork configuration.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 maybe configured to operate on two networks 144 but not simultaneously. Onenetwork may be an external network such as the Internet and the othernetwork may be an internal network insulated from communicating withoutside networks. The host operating system 170 can be configured todisable access to one network if the other network is in use by thecomputer system 100. A user of the computer system 100 only has accessto the guest operating system 176 and so cannot circumvent the networkconfiguration.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 maybe configured to operate as a location positioning system device. Thecomputer system 100 can incorporate one or more devices that determinethe location of the computer system 100. The devices may include devicesthat use global positioning system (GPS) techniques or technologies thatdo not use GPS techniques. For example, the devices may include anaccelerometer or another device that measures the relative motion of thecomputer system 100. The host operating system 170 can be configured touse the devices to calculate the location of the computer system 100.Other types of devices could be used other than location positioningsystem devices. For example, the devices could measure weatherconditions, motion of nearby entities such as automobile traffic, orother types of data. If the computer system took the form of a microchip500 as shown in FIG. 5, many microchips could be placed at a physicallocation, for example, a room, a building, an open field, or anotherlocation. Each microchip 500 could determine its own location using anyof the location techniques described above. The microchips 500 couldcommunicate with each other to provide location data to each other, forexample, to improve precision or to verify the location data. In someexamples, latency of these communication transfers to multiple devicescould be measured as an indication of relative position or determiningphysical obstacles.

In another example scenario, the microchip 500 shown in FIG. 5 could beintegrated with a hand-held device such as a bar code scanner. The barcode scanner could be an example of the hand-held device 600 shown inFIG. 6. The bar code scanner could be used to scan an item having a barcode or other code such as a QR code. Because the bar code scanner hascapabilities of a computer system, the bar code scanner can access dataabout the item through a network and display the data. If the item is apackage, the bar code scanner can display shipping information, and ifthe item is a product, the bar code scanner can display a productmanual.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1 mayhave a program 180 running on the guest operating system 176 whichrequires an authorization key to operate. The authorization key may beprovided by a manufacturer of the program 180 and ensures that only apurchaser of the program can run the program as a protection againstsoftware piracy. The authorization key can be stored by the hostoperating system 170 in data storage accessible to the host operatingsystem 170 and provided to the guest operating system 176 when theprogram 180 is running. Under this arrangement, a user cannot access theauthorization key to copy or modify the authorization key. For example,the user is not able to copy the authorization key to another computersystem to run the program 180 without authorization.

In another example scenario, software piracy may be prevented byincluding software within host or guest operating systems which areplaced within a miniature computer system or read only device. Thiswould make unauthorized copy very difficult to perform because softwarewould be embedded within the computer system, and it would be cheaper tobuy an authorized copy rather than to attempt unauthorized copying byreplicating another comparable hardware device. Such protection could beincreased by encryption and hashing algorithms.

In another example scenario, the computer system 100 shown in FIG. 1could be configured to interface with a data storage system, forexample, a data storage system accessible using one of the input/outputdevices 140 or using the network communication device 142. If the datastorage system contains data deemed sensitive, the host operating system170 running on the computer system 100 can be configured to disable alloperations in which data is written to writeable storage (e.g., thestorage device 130). Thus, data cannot be copied from the data storagesystem to another data storage device by a user 165 of the computersystem 100. Because the user 165 does not have access to the hostoperating system 170, the user 165 is not able to circumvent theconfiguration of the host operating system 170 to allow data to becopied. This would allow computer system to connect to both internal andexternal networks/storage and allowing to transfer sensitive data frominternal network/storage to external network/storage. This functionalitycould be enhanced by placing document discovery agents as part of thecomputer system which would discover files on local storage of thecomputer system (including virtual storage residing in memory, e-mail,file archives, system configurations/customizations, etc.), classifyingthem and depositing them in an internal central electronic discoverysystem. This would provide document protection from unauthorizeduse/distribution as well accidental deletion before data ispreserved/backed-up. These agents could download files from a centralrepository upon reconnection transparently to the user. This would addredundancy to computer system without requiring other local redundanthardware/software.

In another example scenario, unauthorized replication of a computersystem may be prevented by including a hashing identification within apermanent read-only memory within a computer system circuit, such as asingle-chip system. Consequently, even when the chip is physicallycopied, it would not be functional because the hashing identificationwould not match. It is possible to enhance this technique by embeddingan identification creation time stamp which would make a copied IDdifferent from original. Also, instead of this time stamp anotherenvironmental parameter could be used which would make successfulreplication of the identification very difficult.

In another example scenario, one may ensure that a computer system couldnot get a virus that would permanently damage the data stored on thecomputer system by not allowing a user or the guest operating system tomodify an image for the guest operating system which is stored within ahost operating system inaccessible to the user. The computer system maybe configured to require scanning and virus removal at computer systemstart-up or prior to guest operating system start-up. The host operatingsystem could force running/updating virus protection software to preventrun-time viruses.

In another example scenario, a computer system may extend hardwaresupport for newly created hardware/firmware updates without modificationof a guest operating system by the host operating system presenting tothe guest operating system a virtual peripheral or device and having thehost operating system update itself via data sent and received by thenetwork services, which would be seamless from the point of view of theguest operating system. This would extend the guest operating system inregards security and device support without requiring modification to,or in many cases interruption of, the guest operating system.

In another example scenario, there is a redundant computer system withno single point of failure by creating a circuit with two cores, wherethe second core would share access to system memory for memoryreplication. This would allow for greater performance and cost reductionin manufacturing of such systems than current redundant system designswhich include separate redundant hardware components, redundantcontroller to coordinate fail-over, or large size copper traces, etc.This is possible because an operating system image is static and a needfor intermediate components for data transfer (bus) between processor tophysical memory and to auxiliary I/O subsystems would be reduced sincehost and guest operating systems could reside within a centralprocessing unit and use of auxiliary I/O subsystems is not required forcore guest operating system functions.

In another example scenario, one may persist an active memory state of aprimary processing unit without impact to performance of the primaryprocessing unit (core) by the redundant dual core computer system designdescribed above where the secondary core has access to writable memorystore (those writes could be cached via bus since data transfer to suchwritable memory would be slower than inter-process communications). Thisis possible because an operating system image is static and a need forintermediate components for data transfer (bus) between processor tophysical memory and to auxiliary I/O subsystems would be reduced sincehost and guest operating systems could reside within central processingunit and use of auxiliary I/O subsystems is not required for core guestoperating system functions.

In another example scenario, multiple running instances of a guestoperating system are maintained. In the event that a currently activeinstance fails as a result of an error condition such as a bug or virus,the system can seamlessly transfer over to a different running instance,relying on the above-described logical separation of the guest operatingsystem and user data to quickly transfer user state to the new instance.

In another example scenario, a live upgrade of a guest operating systemmay be performed in a manner not disruptive to user, by runningsimultaneous versions of a guest operating system and relying on theabove-described logical separation of the guest operating system anduser data to quickly transfer user state to an instance with a differentversion of the guest operating system and switch over to the instance.

In another example scenario, multiple instances of different typesand/or versions of a guest operating system may be maintained. Theseinstances may interoperate by way of grid software agents installed ineach instance.

In another example scenario, a bridge may be created between variouscommunication/application protocols via running multiple instances ofguest operating systems that respectively support various protocols andinter-operate among themselves via common protocols. Examples includecreating routing/interoperability among network protocols such asNetBIOS, TCP/IP and SNA, IP4, IP6, mail protocols, tunneling, EDI,network enabling inter-process communications such as DDE, etc. Thistechnology could be used in creating next generation network switches.

In another example scenario, inter-process communication (IPC) protocolsmay be accelerated by creating a bridge between various protocols. Forexample, some protocols such as DDE are extremely efficient in IPCcreation while other protocols are more efficient in routing and loadmanagement. Use of a single protocol could result in a bottleneck in anarea of protocol weakness, but conversion within a single operatingsystem would lead to some performance degradation. In contrast, theintegration of multiple guest operating systems which manage variousprotocols and/or distributing a work load among multiple processingcores can eliminate those bottlenecks.

In another example scenario, content generation/search using nativeprotocols for various content may be performed by distributing thegeneration/search among multiple guest operating systems that are nativeprotocol capable.

In another example scenario, additional software functionality may beadded to an operating system via converting the operating system into ahost operating system and importing the additional softwarefunctionality by including a guest operating system which already hasthe desired functionality or has tools/development resources to generatesuch software. This capability could be extended via conversion softwarewhich could analyze the functionality of imported software componentsand convert them to a format native to the host operating system oranother common format.

In another example scenario, a customer may choose a guest operatingsystem and software installed on it by an automated computermanufacturing system or updates to a PROM of a newly created computersystem.

In another example scenario, software may be installed in a guestoperating system by physically attaching software cartridges/fileswithout any modification to a core guest operating system and thesoftware de-installed by uninstalling software cartridges/removingfiles.

In another example scenario, the above host and guest operating systemsmay be instantiated without use of a hypervisor. A general principle ofat least some of the designs described in this disclosure is adecoupling of the host and guest operating systems and a separation oftheir roles. For example, where the host operating system provideshardware resources, generic services, maintains policies, and enforcesquality of service (QoS) of the overall system; and where the guestoperating system maintains user interactions and state while separatinginto discrete structures the guest operating system itself,application/configuration groups (ACG) installed on the guest operatingsystem, and user data.

Thus, a data structure that contains the host operating system may bestatic across various host/guest pairs. Also, a data structure for theguest operating system may be common across various host/guest pairs.Application/configuration groups may not be common across each of thehost/guest pairs, but are repeatable. User data is generally unique to ahost/guest pair, but generally is relatively small in size and highlycompressible. Therefore, it is possible to reconstruct host/guest pairinstances located anywhere geographically (physically or logically) fromthese data structures. In some examples, an Overall Management Layer(OML) may be provided which performs authentication, user dataretrieval, and construction of host/guest pairs using grid and cloudservices. In such examples it is not required that respective computerdevices for the host operating system and guest operating system for ahost/guest pair be located in physical proximity. For example, aninstance of the guest operating system may reside inside a minimaloperating environment, such as a minimal host from a features andresource prospective that could be designated a “virtual BIOS,” inproximity to a user and resource requests would be sent to theabove-mentioned grid or cloud to assign a host computer device for hostroles in a host/guest pair during run-time operations. Communicationsbetween the guest and host operating systems could be carried out via anApplication Programming Interface (API) embedded into virtual driversincluded with a guest operating system instance or APIs within the OML.

In another example scenario, the host operating system may performscanning of guest operating system application components and initiateor perform removal of a defective/infected application or applicationcomponents. Alternatively, removal could be substituted by a quarantineprocedure in which components are moved to an alternate location wherethey would not be utilized by the guest operating system and could berepaired and/or analyzed at a later time. A general principle of atleast some of the designs described in this disclosure is a decouplingof the host and guest operating systems and a separation of their roles.For example, the host operating system provides hardware resources,generic services, maintains policies, and enforces quality of service(QoS) of the overall system, and the guest operating system maintainsuser interactions and state while separating into discrete structuresthe guest operating system itself, application/configuration groups(ACG) installed on the guest operating system, and user data. If adefect or virus is introduced or identified, often it may be locatedwithin a specific ACG or user data. Therefore, it may be possible toautomatically eliminate such defects or viruses by scanning of ACG oruser data by the host operating system, such as before the guestoperating system is instantiated. This scanning time could besignificantly reduced by the knowledge that a specific ACG or user datafragment was already scanned last time. In one example, verification ofno changes could be done using MD5 signatures or other data hashingtechniques. If ACG or user data fragment is determined to be defective,it could be removed or quarantined. In this manner, defective data maybe automatically prevented from remaining or injecting itself into theuser run-time environment provided by the guest operating system.

In another example scenario, password management may be delegated fromthe guest operating system to the host operating system. A number ofcommon security risks arise out of user passwords, such as a user usinga single password or similar passwords across in multiple applications(specifically web applications), the use of simple or common passwordsvulnerable to dictionary attacks, and storing stronger passwords infiles where they could be accessed by a hostile party and decrypted.However, the above-described techniques enable decoupling of the hostand guest operating systems, such that they do not have direct access toeach other's run-time data unless such data is explicitly shared. Thus,by storing passwords within the host operating system, processes runningwithin the guest operating system are unable to access such passwords. Aservice or services may be configured within the host operating systemto identify and remove stored copies of passwords within the guestoperating system, detect by analysis of HTTP traffic when passwords areutilized (such as account creation, account login, and passwordmodification), and ensure that strong passwords (e.g., randomlygenerated passwords unique to respective applications) generated andmanaged by the host operating system are utilized and preferentiallysent via a secure channel, such as HTTPS. Because this is performedautomatically and transparently by the host operating system, a user ofthe guest operating system is not exposed to and may not access theactual strong password utilized for particular applications. This wouldprevent “social engineering” attacks commonly used to retrieveuser-managed passwords. Additionally, this could enhance the userexperience by eliminating the need for a user to remember passwords.Unique passwords may be assigned per each target application/usercombination. The host operating system could also ensure that a HTTPrequest including a password is actually sent to its proper destinationIP and is not just “high-jacked” by a hostile party.

Although example computer systems have been described in relation withthe above figures, implementations of the subject matter and thefunctional operations described above can be implemented in other typesof digital electronic circuitry, or in computer software, firmware, orhardware, including the structures disclosed in this specification andtheir structural equivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them.Implementations of the subject matter described in this specificationcan be implemented as one or more computer program products, i.e., oneor more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a tangibleprogram carrier, for example a computer-readable medium, for executionby, or to control the operation of, a processing system. The computerreadable medium can be a machine readable storage device, a machinereadable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of mattereffecting a machine readable propagated signal, or a combination of oneor more of them.

The term “system” may encompass all apparatus, devices, and machines forprocessing data, including by way of example a programmable processor, acomputer, or multiple processors or computers. A processing system caninclude, in addition to hardware, code that creates an executionenvironment for the computer program in question, e.g., code thatconstitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database managementsystem, an operating system, or a combination of one or more of them.

A computer program (also known as a program, software, softwareapplication, script, executable logic, or code) can be written in anyform of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, or declarative or procedural languages, and it can bedeployed in any form, including as a standalone program or as a module,component, subroutine, or other unit suitable for use in a computingenvironment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to afile in a file system. A program can be stored in a portion of a filethat holds other programs or data (e.g., one or more scripts stored in amarkup language document), in a single file dedicated to the program inquestion, or in multiple coordinated files (e.g., files that store oneor more modules, sub programs, or portions of code). A computer programcan be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiple computersthat are located at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non-volatile or volatilememory, media and memory devices, including by way of examplesemiconductor memory devices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memorydevices; magnetic disks, e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks ormagnetic tapes; magneto optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. Theprocessor and the memory can be supplemented by, or incorporated in,special purpose logic circuitry. Sometimes a server is a general purposecomputer, and sometimes it is a custom-tailored special purposeelectronic device, and sometimes it is a combination of these things.

Implementations can include a back end component, e.g., a data server,or a middleware component, e.g., an application server, or a front endcomponent, e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface ora Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementationof the subject matter described is this specification, or anycombination of one or more such back end, middleware, or front endcomponents. The components of the system can be interconnected by anyform or medium of digital data communication, e.g., a communicationnetwork. Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”) and a wide area network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

Certain features that are described above in the context of separateimplementations can also be implemented in combination in a singleimplementation. Conversely, features that are described in the contextof a single implementation can be implemented in multipleimplementations separately or in any sub-combinations.

The order in which operations are performed as described above can bealtered. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. The separation of system components in theimplementations described above should not be understood as requiringsuch separation.

Although the systems described here are described in the context of twoseparate operating systems, a host and a guest, each having its ownframework and functionality, the techniques described here are notlimited to such a bifurcated structure. In some implementations, both ofthe operating systems are wrapped within a single computer programhaving two sectors that cooperate with each other as if they wereindependent systems, with the sector that directly interfaces with userbeing periodically refreshed under the control of the second sector thatinterfaces solely with the hardware and communication layers of thecomputer system.

For example, some operating systems are designed so as to divideoperations between kernel space and user space. Kernel space programcode manages computing resources used by applications in user space.Example functions for kernel space program code include, but are notlimited to, processor management, memory management, and devicemanagement. A kernel abstraction layer may be provided for isolationrequired to protect host operating system resources from being damagedby a guest operating system user space process, such as a virtualmachine program. In turn, the guest operating system divides operationsbetween kernel and user space and provides for isolation of user spaceprocesses executing within the guest operating system. A virtualizationlayer between the guest operating system and the host operating systemmay provide an additional layer of isolation in the event that the guestoperating system is insecure and allows user space processes to directlyor indirectly tamper with kernel space objects.

In some implementations, the techniques described in this applicationare implemented by using fully functional operating systems, such ascommercially available “off the shelf” operating systems, and avirtualization layer between the operating systems. However, in otherimplementations, instead of a fully functional operating system,components similar to an operating system and a virtualization layer maybe used to achieve such isolation, although other features typicallypresent in a fully functional operating may be missing.

Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

1. A method comprising refreshing a guest operating system from a masterimage of the guest operating system repeatedly in connection with use ofone or more electronic devices on which the guest operating system ishosted.
 2. The method of claim 1 in which a portion of the guestoperating system is refreshed from the master image and a portion of theguest operating system is not refreshed from the master image.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 in which the refreshing occurs in response to an eventassociated with use of the one or more electronic devices.
 4. The methodof claim 1 in which the refreshing occurs at prearranged times.
 5. Themethod of claim 1 in which the refreshing occurs at regular intervals.6. The method of claim 1 in which the refreshing occurs in response to acharacteristic of an operation of the guest operating system.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 in which the characteristic comprises incorrectoperation of the guest operating system.
 8. The method of claim 1 inwhich the refreshing occurs upon failure of the guest operating system.9. The method of claim 1 in which the refreshing occurs upon a moving ofthe master image of the guest operating system from one to another ofthe electronic devices.
 10. The method of claim 1 in which the guestoperating system is hosted on a virtual machine exposed by a hostoperating system on at least one of the electronic devices.
 11. Themethod of claim 1 in which the guest operating system is refreshed froma master image on a portable storage device.
 12. The method of claim 1comprising refreshing a host operating system running on one or more ofthe electronic devices.
 13. The method of claim 1 in which theelectronic devices comprise one or more of a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a mobile computing device, a mobile phone, or a tabletcomputer.
 14. The method of claim 1 in which the master image isunchanged from refreshing to refreshing.
 15. A method comprising:executing a guest operating system on a virtual machine; and from timeto time, while the virtual machine is running, reloading the guestoperating system from a master image of the guest operating system. 16.The method of claim 15 in which the virtual machine is hosted by a hostoperating system.
 17. The method of claim 16, in which at least someservices available directly to the host operating system are notdirectly accessible to the guest operating system.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, in which at least some services available directly to the hostoperating system are not directly accessible to the guest operatingsystem, and at least some services available directly to the hostoperating system are directly accessible to the guest operating system.19. The method of claim 16, comprising the host operating systemreducing access by the guest operating system to services of anelectronic device on which the host operating system is running, basedon a condition of the electronic device.
 20. The method of claim 19, inwhich services of the electronic device comprise a network interface.21. The method of claim 16, comprising the host operating system hidingfrom a user, user interface elements that would otherwise be exposed tothe user by the host operating system.
 22. The method of claim 15, inwhich reloading the guest operating system from a master image comprisesinstalling a user application on the guest operating system from asecondary master image.
 23. The method of claim 22 comprising detectinga condition of the user application and, based on the condition,deleting the secondary master image.
 24. The method of claim 23 in whichthe condition comprises a failure condition.
 25. The method of claim 23in which the condition comprises a security condition.
 26. The method ofclaim 15, comprising detecting a condition of the guest operating systemand, based on the condition, refreshing the guest operating system. 27.The method of claim 26, in which the condition comprises a failurecondition.
 28. The method of claim 26, in which the condition comprisesa security condition.
 29. The method of claim 15, comprising disabling auser interface of the virtual machine.
 30. The method of claim 15, inwhich the guest operating system is reloaded into random access memory.31. The method of claim 15, in which the master image is stored infirmware.
 32. The method of claim 15 comprising executing the guestoperating system after reloading it from the master image.
 33. Themethod of claim 15 comprising terminating the guest operating systembefore reloading it from the master image.
 34. The method of claim 15 inwhich from time to time comprises on a regular schedule.
 35. Anapparatus comprising: a storage device containing a host operatingsystem and a guest operating system, the host operating systemcomprising features to interface with services available on anelectronic device, the guest operating system comprising features thatare exposed to a user to enable a user to make use of the servicesavailable on a computer system through the host operating system butwithout enabling the user to access the services available on thecomputer system directly through the host operating system.
 36. Theapparatus of claim 35, in which hardware of the computer system is notaccessible to the guest operating system.
 37. The apparatus of claim 35comprising a secondary re-writeable storage device accessible by theguest operating system.
 38. The apparatus of claim 37, in which thesecondary re-writeable storage device stores secondary data storageimages comprising software executable to install an application programexecutable under the guest operating system.
 39. The apparatus of claim35, comprising a data storage image containing the host operating systemand the guest operating system.
 40. The apparatus of claim 39, in whichthe storage device comprises a read-only storage device to copy the datastorage image to random access memory of the electronic device prior toexecution of the host operating system.
 41. The apparatus of claim 35 inwhich the storage device comprises a read-only storage device.
 42. Amethod comprising a user accessing features made available by a hostoperating system running on an electronic device, the user accessing thefeatures indirectly through a guest operating system running on avirtual machine exposed by the host operating system, the guestoperating system being provided from a master image stored in a datastorage device inaccessible to the guest operating system.
 43. A methodcomprising a guest operating system enabling a user to interact with anelectronic device, the guest operating system effecting interactions ofthe user by invoking features of a virtual machine that is exposed by ahost operating system running on the electronic device, the guestoperating system being provided from a master image.
 44. A computersystem comprising: one or more computer devices including a firstcomputer device, wherein the first computer device comprises a firstnetwork communication device; a host operating system executing on thefirst computer device, wherein the host operating system is configuredto directly operate the network communication device; a virtualizednetwork communication device, whereby use of the virtualized networkcommunication device results in direct operation of the first networkcommunication device by the host operating system; a guest operatingsystem, wherein the guest operating system is configured to use thevirtualized network communication device for network communicationactivities; a first nonvolatile data storage device storing a masterimage of the guest operating system; and a second nonvolatile datastorage device which stores user information generated by the guestoperating system; wherein, in response to an instruction generated bythe host operating system, the computer system is configured toautomatically refresh the guest operating system from the master imagestored in the first nonvolatile data storage device and the userinformation stored in the second nonvolatile data storage device. 45.The system of claim 44, further comprising: a virtual machine whichincludes the virtualized network communication device and thevirtualized data storage device, wherein the guest operating systemexecutes within the virtual machine.
 46. The system of claim 45, whereinthe virtual machine executes within the host operating system.
 47. Thesystem of claim 44, further comprising: a first display deviceconfigured to display images; a first input device for manual or verbalinstructions from a user; a virtualized display device, whereby use ofthe virtualized display device results in operation of the first displaydevice by the host operating system; and a virtualized input device,whereby input received by the host operating system via the first inputdevice is provided to an operating system using the virtualized inputdevice; wherein the guest operating system is configured to use thevirtualized display device to display a user interface and is configuredto use the virtualized input device to provide input for operating theuser interface.
 48. The system of claim 47, wherein the host operatingsystem does not provide a user interface for use via the first displaydevice.
 49. The system of claim 44, wherein the first computer devicefurther comprises a first data storage device; the host operating systemis configured to directly operate the first data storage unit; thesystem further comprises a virtualized data storage device, whereby useof the virtualized data storage device results in direct operation ofthe first data storage device by the host operating system; and theguest operating system is configured to use the virtualized data storagedevice for data storage activities.
 50. The system of claim 44, furthercomprising: a third nonvolatile data storage device which stores datafor installation of a first application program on the guest operatingsystem; wherein, in response to the instruction from the host operatingsystem, the computer system is configured to install the firstapplication program on the guest operating system from the thirdnonvolatile data storage device.
 51. The system of claim 50, furthercomprising: a fourth nonvolatile data storage device which stores datafor installation of a second application program on the guest operatingsystem; wherein the host operating system is configured to identify andrecord a problem associated with the second application; and wherein, inresponse to the instruction from the host operating system, the computersystem is configured to install the second application program on theguest operating system from the fourth nonvolatile data storage device,unless the host operating system has recorded a problem associated withthe second application.
 52. The system of claim 51, wherein the hostoperating system is configured to generate the instruction in responseto identifying a problem associated with the second application.
 53. Thesystem of claim 44, wherein the system is configured to monitoroperation of the guest operating system; and the host operating systemis configured to generate the instruction in response to the monitoringof the guest operating system.
 54. The system of claim 53, wherein thehost operating system is configured to generate the instruction inresponse to a detected misoperation or failure of the guest operatingsystem.
 55. The system of claim 53, wherein the host operating system isconfigured to generate the instruction in response to a detection ofunauthorized access of the guest operating system.
 56. The system ofclaim 44, wherein the host operating system in configured toperiodically generate the instruction.
 57. The system of claim 44,wherein the master image is unchanged from refreshing to refreshing ofthe guest operating system.
 58. The system of claim 44, wherein the hostoperating system is configured to required encrypted communication viathe first network communication device in response to use of thevirtualized network communication device by the guest operating system.59. The system of claim 44, wherein the host operating system isconfigured to perform monitoring and control of network communicationsrequested by the guest operating system.
 60. The system of claim 44,wherein the host operating system is configured to perform automaticmaintenance of device drivers without requiring user interaction andwithout requiring termination of the guest operating system.
 61. Thesystem of claim 46, wherein the host operating includes a kernelabstraction layer which isolates the virtual machine from the firstcomputer device.
 62. A method of configuring one or more computerdevices including a first computer device, the first computer devicecomprising a first network communication device, the method comprising:executing a host operating system on the first computer device, whereinthe host operating system is configured to directly operate the networkcommunication device; executing a guest operating system on one of theone or more computer devices, wherein the guest operating system isconfigured to use a virtualized network communication device for networkcommunication activities, whereby use of the virtualized networkcommunication device results in direct operation of the first networkcommunication device by the host operating system; and refreshing theguest operating system, in response to an instruction generated by thehost operating system, from a master image of the guest operating systemstored in a first nonvolatile data storage device and user informationstored in a second nonvolatile data storage device.
 63. The method ofclaim 62, further comprising: executing a virtual machine which providesthe virtualized network communication device, wherein the executing ofthe guest operating system is within the virtual machine.
 64. The methodof claim 63, wherein the executing of the virtual machine is within thehost operating system.
 65. The method of claim 62, further comprising:providing a kernel abstraction layer in the host operating system toisolate the virtual machine from the first computer device.
 66. Themethod of claim 62, wherein the host operating stores one or morepasswords for use with user applications executing on the guestoperating system.